In Microsoft Office 2010, when files open, Message Bars can alert you to useful information and potential problems with your files. Security Message Bars provide the opportunity to consider the potential security risks that may be in your file, and then the ability to open or read the file while reducing the risks that can occur.

Learn how to use ALT key shortcuts that let you access almost any command in Excel 2010. These keyboard shortcuts are also called access keys, and they are handy when a CTRL shortcut isn’t available for a command.

As you look at rows and rows of data, sometimes it’s hard to immediately make sense of it. Add tiny charts called sparklines next to data to give readers a picture of what the data means, making it easy to spot patterns and trends.

The IF function checks to see if a condition you specify is true, or false. If true, one thing happens; if false, something else happens. For example, if you use the IF function to see if amounts spent are under or over budget, the result for True could be “Within budget,” while the result for False could be “Over budget.”

Sometimes it’s hard to read and interpret data by scanning rows and rows of information. But you can use conditional formatting to make certain data stand out, helping you to analyze data, and to identify patterns and trends.

Learn how to use VLOOKUP to look up a value you want to find in an Excel list or table. Using VLOOKUP is similar to looking up a person’s name in a telephone book to get a telephone number. VLOOKUP looks at a value in one column, and finds its corresponding value on the same row in another column.

Do you find yourself doing the same actions over and over again in your spreadsheets? Did you know you can create macros so that Excel can do that repetitive work for you? Macros are sets of instructions based on actions that you record while you work in your spreadsheet. After you record a macro, you can use it again as the need arises.